Goodbye Chef, Hello Top Design!

January 31, 2007

Tonight is a twofer on Bravo and a one-fer (whaaa?) on Bravotv.com. You got the Top Chef finale at 10, followed by the premiere of Top Design at 11. If you need a wee bit more Chef, you can hop over to Bravotv.com at 11 and throw a question at Ilan and Marcel, who will be my guests on Watch What Happens. We'll repost the show on the website and it will be available for eternity for you to watch, rewatch, and then watch again (just in case you want to stick with "Top Design").

I am excited to see Ilan and Marcel. It will be an interesting show, one of them will have won by then and I am sure that you will have a lot of questions!

In the meantime, I have a ton of pics I took at the Chef finale in Hawaii and I think I will take this opportunity to share them with you.

How did Padma pack this hat in her luggage and isn't it amazing that she has a head-full of curlers underneath it?

READ MORE > >

Yes, It's Cold In New York

January 30, 2007

From October through March, people from LA ask me on the phone if it is "cold" outside. I don't know why they ask in a way that seems to hover around OCD, but I think it is to make themselves feel good about not being here.

So here's what: Yes, it's cold. I'm glad. It's a season called winter here and it's supposed to be cold. In April it will be Spring and everyone here will be having an awakening and it doesn't compare to a euthanized lull of 72 degrees daily. I'm just saying. But, hey -- maybe I am the one justifying living HERE!

CHEF REUNION I have been getting a lot of emails about whether or not there will be a chef reunion. The answer is NO. Last year's reunion capped what we thought was a drama-filled season and turned into "The Jerry Springer Show" so I am thinking this year's would turn into a reenactment of the day that guy got murdered on "The Jenny Jones Show."

READ MORE > >

Sexy Sam Top Chef 2 Fan Favorite

January 25, 2007

Last night was our second live after-show and it was a fun one. Our guests were just-eliminated cheftestant "Sexy" Sam Talbot (his nickname is "Sexy Sam") and Tom Colicchio. (By the way, when you are done reading this blog - which is shaping up to be just about as gripping as John Grisham's latest tome, click HERE to watch last night's show!)

Sam arrived unaware that he was winning fan favorite, but he knew it was being announced and told us several times that he was anxious to see who won. We wanted to tell him live on the show but weren't sure of the choreography of getting him away from the TV and his cellphone at the appropriate time. Tom and I pondered telling him that a different chef had won and thought of plausible options, or people that might leave him puzzled.

READ MORE > >

The New/Old F Word

January 23, 2007

There's a new F word and it's probably not what you think. When Isaiah Washington said "faggot" on the set of "Grey's Anatomy," he unwittingly brought a new consciousness to a damning hate word that's been thrown around playgrounds and locker rooms for years. There is massive buzz about Washington's bullying and disruption of a workplace environment with his hatetalk; he might get fired.

Tonight that word is used on "The Real Housewives of Orange County" when Shane calls his younger brother Colton a "faggot" for pouring water on him. It's a scene that happens every day in schoolyards, in living rooms, and in fights between brothers, friends and bullies.

READ MORE > >

Nose Jobs and an Oprah Mistake? (Gasp!)

January 22, 2007

I started my weekend with a long-planned dinner to celebrate a good friend's nose job.

The evening began in reverse, with the big reveal (on TV you have to wait 40 minutes) and it was a doozy. This lady, with her late-in-life nose shaving and restructure, has given herself a new lease. Her text to me while still in recovery -- "Mama, I'm a pretty girl now!" -- was right. (PrettIER would have been more apt.) What a nice way to start the weekend.

Now I want a nose job so I can show my friends at a dinner in my honor.

I screened a lot of Bravo shows over the weekend and caught up on some DVR buildup that had festered like the plague during my week in LA. And plague is a good metaphor given what I saw.

READ MORE > >

Cliff is On The Line

January 18, 2007

Last night we broadcast the first episode of "Watch What Happens", our live web show featuring your questions for eliminated Top Chef Cliff Crooks and Judge/Food and Wine Empress Gail Simmons. (You can watch the show at your leisure HERE).

It was a little stressful given the incredibly sensitive nature of Cliff's dismissal from the show, which in itself was very upsetting and offputting. I worried about how he would react to seeing the episode for the first time and being thrust into a live interview, and potentially further upsetting situation.

By the way, I thought he was rightfully dismissed from the show; he broke the rules which state that harming or threatening another contestant can be grounds for dismissal. I also think he's a good guy who meant no harm to Marcel in what was essentially a stupid prank gone awry. The stupid prank, though, looked to me like a snuff film. It is almost disgusting to watch, especially given the Marcel-torture that's been building all season.

READ MORE > >

Tonight I Go LIVE!

January 17, 2007

Big stuff on Bravo and BravoTV.com tonight. First off, the premiere of what will probably go down as our most controversial episode of Top Chef in the show's short history. I don't want to give anything away, but it's big and it's weird.

Right after the show, I can pretty much guarantee that you'll be hyped up, freaked out, and wanting MORE. So what you should do is immediately log on to BravoTV.com and watch the live premiere of our web series, Watch What Happens. I will be live joined by whomever is eliminated from the show and Judge Gail Simmons. We'll answer your emails, calls and texts.

READ MORE > >

Peeing With Justin Timberlake

January 16, 2007

Tonight is the big night -- Season 2 of "The Real Housewives of Orange County" begins. I am genuinely excited about it because it is an addictively weird mix of jaw-drop meets fun meets soap opera meets reality.

The OC ladies were in full force at the NBC Cable party at the Ritz in Pasadena Friday night, along with Jaclyn "Shear Genius" Smith and the whole gang from "Top Design." It was like seeing Peter Brady at the Partridge's house -- it made no sense but I couldn't turn away.

With the "Real Housewives of Orange County", what you see is definitely what you get. What did I get? A face-full of boobs!

READ MORE > >

Top Chef Hostess Padma Tells...

January 10, 2007

One of the many nice qualities about Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi is that the lady will answer any question and will chat your ear off... and that's why I called her first thing this morning for some coffee tawk!

GOOD MORNING...
Did you just wake up?

NO I HAVE BEEN UP FOR HOURS..
Me too!

LET'S GET INTO IT... WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR FAVORITE DISH SO FAR?
That's a great question because it's so hard to choose! One of the most ingenious things I've had was very simple but it was Sam's fruit salad at the firehouse. Tonight's episode has my favorite quickfire challenge of the whole thing. It's snacks.

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR LEAST FAVORITE DISH?
Actually someone makes something at the quickfire that was pretty hideous. Guess who's it was...

READ MORE > >

Naomi Judd is a Medical Miracle

January 09, 2007

I have been watching a lot of TV the last 24 hours and would like to share my archaeological findings with you all.

Sunday I caught ten minutes of "The Fame Game" and if you are interested in hurling yourself into a deep, dark depression -- this show is for you. There is nothing sadder than this show. Not Bindi Irwin or the plight of Laura Bush. Nothing. See for yourself.

Rosie was good on "The View" yesterday. She said she wasn't going to talk about Trump and then did for fifteen minutes. She said she knows she's fat so SHE didn't mind him calling her that but what he really did was insult the millions of fat American ladies who watch her (and now won't watch "The Apprentice"). I thought she was going to point out that he is kind of fat himself, but I guess you can't call someone fat right back. Who helped her strategize, Karl Rove?

READ MORE > >

Top Design: Sneak Peak Scoop-ish Tidbit

January 08, 2007

I was watching "You're the One That I Want" last night marvelling at the British judge delivering the contestant's exit line that should've been so great but was a bit of a tongue twister for him. "You're the one that we want," he would say -- then pause -- then continue, "... to go to Grease school." And then when he was eliminating people he was saying "You're NOT the one that we want ... to go to Grease school." (I may have screwed up the line somehow but that's the gist.)

The point is that it isn't easy coming up with exit lines on reality shows, and it's even harder to spit them out.

"You're Fired" is fantastic, even delivered under a cloud of Trump cotton candy. I am blurring on Martha Stewart's exit-line from her Apprentice, but I am thinking it was "'I'm afraid you just don't fit in," and I'm afraid I am thinking that line sucks. "Survivor" has been going so well for so long that they've created a new phrasebook and it all sounds impactful, from the goodbye -- "the tribe has spoken" -- to the following throwaway, "grab your torch and head back to camp."

READ MORE > >

I Would Like To Make A Point!

January 05, 2007

(if I can find a point to make...)

The first week of 2 thousand 24/7 was more frenetic than I would've liked.... and so is today's rambler of a blog!

CHEF: I wonder how you guys liked the extra 10 or so minutes of Chef the other night. Sometimes the cuts arrive at 56 minutes and it is torture pulling content out of the shows. We thought Wednesday's episode was a great mix of fantastic challenges and cooking with some spicy drama thrown in, which is why it worked as a longer show.

I am the guy who often errs on the side of begging for more time, and it occasionally bites me in the butt -- the 90 minute premiere of "Battle of the Network Reality Stars" that we couldn't POSSIBLY cut into an hour is replaying in a loop right now in my mind -- so I am curious what fans of the show thought about the director's cut!

READ MORE > >

Top Chef Dude Ilan (Sexy, or No?) Speaks

January 04, 2007

Add to my list of things that confuse me (along with Hilary Swank's two Oscar wins) the fact that Ilan and everybody else on Top Chef seem to despise Marcel with great passion. A couple weeks ago I asked Marcel why he thought his fellow chefs weren't thrilled with him and, after last night's episode, I had to get Ilan on the horn and hear from him further what the problem is.

HELLO ILAN.
Hey.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING RIGHT NOW?
I just saw The Vertical Hour - the Julianne Moore play - with my sister and my grandma...

HOW WAS IT?
Really good..

READ MORE > >

Miami, Diana Ross, and Judge Judy

January 04, 2007

THE WAIT IS OVER! I am not only talking about a new studio album from Diana Ross, but for a new TOP CHEF. If you ever wondered how Marcel and Debi Mazar would get along, tonight you'll have the answer to that question. We supersized tonight's episode, and through the wonders of advance warning and technology, my guide on my TV seems to know that it's on until around 11:15. My guide is so smart sometimes! (Football overruns continue to flummox the poor guide, though. As a remedy, I give it xanax occasionally).

We announced Season 3 of Top Chef yesterday, and that means we're casting right now. If you know anyone who can cook their face off, tell them to run to BravoTV.com/casting and come to one of our open calls. Tom Colicchio stopped by my office yesterday morning after wrapping his Today Show appearance. I offered him whiskey and he declined, but we did discuss our goal of finding an absolute knockout group of chefs for season three. If YOU have what it takes, this is your moment!!

READ MORE > >

2 Thousand 24/7

January 02, 2007

On New Year's Eve, my mind was spinning as I devised what will surely be the motto of 2007: "2 Thousand 24/7."

We all THOUGHT we were dancing as fast as we could in 2006 (which I named "Two Thousand Sex" last new year's and -- as you can see -- it did not take). But in 2 thousand 24/7, I think our heads are going to start blowing off our bods. I, for one, plan to spend the year bringing multitasking to obscene levels: I'll wear tap shoes to bed, blog in the shower, moisturize while meditating, screen two shows at once, and talk on my cell phone and Blackberry phone simultaneously. It's a promise in ink.

I, the spirit of 2 Thousand 24/7, I am currently pounding out this blog at my desk while skimming the New York Post, drinking my coffee, and watching President Ford's funeral -- which may seem v. 2006 to YOU, but there is a hint of 2 thousand 24/7 mania about it for ME.

READ MORE > >